Media getting paused when you wake your iPhone on iOS 18? Try this potential workaround

Some iPhone users are noticing an annoying bug after upgrading to iOS 18. According to reports, any media playing in the background gets paused and starts playing again after a couple of seconds if they unlock or wake their phone screens.

This issue has been plaguing users since the early beta versions of iOS 18 and appears to have persisted into the public release. The problem affects various audio sources, including Apple Music, Spotify, podcasts, and even audio from video apps.

Users have reported the issue occurring with both wireless earbuds (like AirPods and Galaxy Buds) and wired headphones. The bug also seems to impact CarPlay users, causing audio interruptions when connecting to their vehicles.

While Apple has yet to officially acknowledge or address the problem, some users have discovered a useful workaround. The most effective solution appears to be disabling a feature called “Vocal Shortcuts” in the Accessibility settings.

To try this fix:

1. Go to Settings > Accessibility
2. Scroll down and look for “Vocal Shortcuts”
3. Toggle off the feature

Many users have reported that this resolves the audio interruption issue. However, it’s worth noting that this is a temporary fix, as some may want to keep using Vocal Shortcuts for other purposes.

If you’re troubled by the bug, do give the potential workaround mentioned above a shot and let us know if it helped resolve the problem for you. It’s unclear if Apple is aware of the bug and if we’ll see a fix for it with the upcoming iOS 18.1 update that’s expected to bring some AI goodness.